Sophie Turner gets candid about her mental health issues: 'I used to think about suicide a lot'

2019-04-18 12:15by Robyn Lucas

Sophie Turner. (Photo: Getty/Gallo Images)

Cape Town - Sophie Turner has opened up about her mental health struggles.

During a recent interview with Dr Phil on his podcast, Phil in the Blanks, the 23-year-old revealed that she’s been battling with depression, which is partly due to the criticism over her looks, US Weekly reports.

"My immediate family, and myself, as well. I’ve suffered from depression for about five or six years now. It’s weird. I say I wasn’t very depressed when I was younger, but I used to think about suicide a lot.

"I don’t know why though. Maybe it’s just a weird fascination I used to have, but yeah, I used to think about it. I don’t think I ever would have gone through with it."

The Game of Thrones star further revealed that she would believe the negative comments she read on social media about herself, People reports.

"The character that I play on my show is called Sansa, and people used to say, 'Damn, Sansa gained 10 lbs' (4.5kg) or 'Damn, Sansa needs to lose 10 lbs' (4.5kg) or 'Sansa got fat'.

"It was just a lot of weight comments, or I would have spotty skin because I was a teenager, and that’s normal, and I used to get a lot of comments about my skin and my weight and how I wasn’t a good actress.

"I would just believe it. I would say, 'Yeah, I am spotty. I am fat. I am a bad actress.' I would just believe it. I would get [the costume department] to tighten my corset a lot. I just got very, very self-conscious."

The British actress also told Dr Phil that she eventually withdrew herself from the outside world.

"I had no motivation to do anything or go out. Even with my best friends, I wouldn’t want to see them, I wouldn’t want to go out and eat with them.

"I just would cry and cry and cry over just getting changed and putting on clothes and be like, 'I can’t do this. I can’t go outside. I have nothing that I want to do'," she said.